Draft Winds: A study of Cordarrelle Patterson

February 28, 2013|Dave Hyde

A popular feature on my blog in recent years has been the Draft Winds feature that came out of the Dolphins trip to London in 2007. There, I met Simon Clancy, who mentioned his work as a draftnik. I thought it would be interesting to show how flat the world is now that a draftnik in London can show off his expertise. He brought in compatriots at Universal Draft, Chris Kouffman and Richard Lines. Together, they wrote an in-depth, weekly blog on the draft. This year, real life (and the, ahem, pay scale) means Chris is doing the heavy lifting. As you see from his work on Cordarrelle Patterson, this is as thorough a look as you'll find on a draft prospect, complete with painstaking background, story and video research. Without further introduction, let's get to it ...

--Dave Hyde

DRAFT WINDS 2013

by Chris Kouffman

Thank you guys for once again coming back to read the Draft Winds series on Dave Hyde’s blog here on the South Florida Sun Sentinel. We have some changes this year as both Richard Lines and Simon Clancy have been stricken with such trivial real life issues as “work” and “family” that they simply don’t have the time to regularly join me on this Draft Winds venture. I have agreed to steer the ship in their stead, but don’t go thinking for one minute those two passionate draft nuts can keep their eyes off the draft long enough to sit this one out completely. As such, I expect that I will succeed in wrangling some opinions and writings out of them as we go along.

We have an interesting draft season shaping up. For the first time in what seems like ages, Miami Dolphins fans have a legitimate reason not to scour and sift through every potential starting quarterback in the NFL Draft. There have not been many years over the last decade where that has been the case, so I suggest that we relax and enjoy the experience.

With six draft picks potentially in the top 110 of this year’s NFL Draft, not to mention all of the salary cap space the Dolphins have in free agency, this should be a highly eventful off season. The Dolphins have a significant number of assets.

They also have a significant number of liabilities. Brian Hartline, Reggie Bush, Jake Long, Anthony Fasano, Randy Starks, Sean Smith and Chris Clemons were all starters, and they are all free agents. Some were no more than “solid” starters, some were more than that. I would argue that probably only one truly performed at less than a “solid” standard for performance. Additionally, the Dolphins lose the contract of a significant role player in the nickel defense, defensive tackle Tony McDaniel. To top it off, the Dolphins voluntarily jettisoned both Brandon Marshall and Vontae Davis in the 2012 off season, and never bothered to replace them. So while they may have upwards of $43 million in salary cap space to go with six picks in the top 110 of the Draft, they also have 9 solid to excellent starters that need replacing, to go along with perhaps 1 or 2 more significant role playing positions. So, while the assets are significant, you have nearly half a football team as liabilities. And that’s assuming the Dolphins don’t voluntarily open up more liabilities as they did last off season by trading away or cutting more starters.

That said, the opportunity for true change is there, which makes things very exciting for Miami Dol-Fans. With that excitement in mind, I thought I would kick off the Draft Winds series with a look at one of the more exciting players that could be available when the Dolphins pick at #12 overall. If you feel like skipping to the end, I won’t blame you. These long pieces are not for everyone. They are not intended to be brief or to the point, they are intended as a repository of any and all pieces of information I have found about a prospect in my virtual travels that I find interesting.

WR Cordarrelle Patterson, Tennessee – An Introduction

Tennessee Volunteers wide receiver Cordarrelle Patterson has become a hot item. The former junior college transfer has traveled upwards on media draft boards all the way to a potential top 12 pick in the 2013 NFL Draft. Recently, ESPN’s Mel Kiper made waves with Dolphins fans by saying that Cordarrelle Patterson is the only wide receiver the Dolphins could take at #12 overall “that would make any sense”.